Blind as a Bat? Bats are not blind. They can see as well as most other nocturnal animals, but their vision is probably best adapted for low light conditions. But many bats are  able to navigate and find their food by the use of echolocation. This means they emit high frequency sounds through their mouths or nostrils and listen for the echoes as the sounds bounce off objects. Bats can determine many things from the returning echoes. For example, insect-eating bats can use echolocation to determine where an insect is, how large it is, how fast it is moving and in which direction.  (Photo by M. D. Tuttle, Bat Conservation International, www.batcon.org)

© Merlin Tuttle, Bat Conservation International

Hanging out upside down! This beautiful photo by Merlin D. Tuttle shows how bats hang upside down. A bat's body is well adapted for this position. Thier hind limbs are rotated 180 degrees so their knees face backwards. Specialized tendons hold their toes in place so they are able to cling to their roosts without expending energy. These adaptations allow bats to roost in places where many predators can't reach them.  And by simply releasing their grip, they can drop down and take flight.   (Photo by M. D. Tuttle, Bat Conservation International, www.batcon.org)

What do bats eat?
There are many different kinds of bats in the world. In fact, there are over 1,100 different bat species worldwide. Different kinds of bats eat different kinds of foods. Most species of bats eat insects. They eat moths, beetles, flies, crickets, grasshoppers, planthoppers, leafhoppers, ants, assassin bugs, spittle bugs, cicadas, dragonflies, termites, stink bugs, and mosquitos. Some bats include scorpions or spiders in their diets. Other bat species feed on fruit or nectar from plants that bloom at night. Some bat species include flowers and leaves in their diet. A few species of bats feed on small vertebrates such as birds, rodents, lizards, frogs, and smaller bats. Only 3 of the 1,100 bat species are vampire bats. Vampire bats feed on the blood of birds or mammals and live only in Latin America.

© Merlin Tuttle, Bat Conservation International

Where are bats in the daytime? Bats spend the daytime in many different places. Many stay underground in caves or abandoned mines. Others roost in hollow trees or underneath loose tree bark. Some bats, like the yellow bats (Lasiurus sp.) in the southern United States, roost in dead palm fronds or Spanish moss. In the Old World tropics, flying foxes (Pteropus) hang in the open from tree branches. In the New World tropics, proboscis bats (Rhynchonycteris naso) roost on tree trunks where they are well camouflaged. Others, such as Spix's disk-winged bats (Thyroptera tricolor) and Banana bats (Pipistrellus nanus), roost inside rolled banana leaves. Honduran white bats (Ectophylla alba) chew along the midrib of a Heliconia leaf until it folds down into a tent and then roost under the folded leaf.  But bats also use homes made by other animals. In the U.S., big brown bats (Eptesicus fuscus) sometimes roost in woodpecker holes and cave bats (Myotis velifer) hide in abandoned cliff swallow nests. In South America, round-eared bats (Tonatia silvicola) have been found in termite mounds. Many bats in Africa use other animals' homes. For example, leaf-nosed bats (Hipposideros fulvum) sometimes roost in porcupine burrows, slit-faced bats (Nycteris sp.) in aardvark burrows, and woolly bats (Kerivoula sp.) in spider webs!

How are bats different from one another? Bats are in the scientific Order Chiroptera. The Order is divided into two suborders, Microchiroptera and Megachiroptera. Bats in the Order Microchiroptera (called microbats) are distributed worldwide, although they are absent on a few islands in the Indian Ocean and the central Pacific. They weigh from 2 to 196 grams. Microbats use echolocation. Most species of microbats eat insects, some eat fruit and nectar, and a few are carnivorous or sanguinivorous (feed on blood). Bats in the suborder Megachiroptera (called megabats) live only in the Old World tropics, from subtropical and tropical regions of Africa and the eastern end of the Mediterranean, east across the southern Arabian Peninsula & islands of the central and South Pacific. Megabats weigh from 10 to more than 1500 grams. Some have wingspans of nearly 6 feet!

© Merlin Tuttle, Bat Conservation International

What are vampire bats? Vampire bats are microbats. They are bats that feed on the blood of birds or other mammals.  Are most bats vampire bats? No! In fact, there are only 3 species of vampire bats in the whole world! These bats live in colonies in Latin American (from Mexico into Central and South America). There is the the common vampire bat (Desmodus rotundus), the hairy-legged vampire bat (Diphylla ecaudata), and the white-winged vampire bat (Diaemus youngi). These bats weight between 15 to 50 grams (about 1 ˝ ounces at the most). They are dark brown, gray-brown, or red-brown in color and have no tail. Vampire bats live in caves and hollow trees. Common vampire bats usually feed on blood from cattle. Hairy-legged vampire bats prefer the blood of birds. White-winged vampire bats like both bird and goat's blood. Vampire bats are very agile on the ground, able to crawl, run, and hop. They quietly approach their prey, lick the skin on a place where the blood vessels are close to the surface and make a bite into the skin, then lap up the blood. They may drink 20 ml (4 teaspoons) of blood per day. If a vampire bat does not find any blood to feed on one night, others in its colony will regurgitate blood for it to drink.

(Photo by M. D. Tuttle, Bat Conservation International, www.batcon.org)

What are false vampire bats? False vampire bats are also microbats. There is an Asian false vampire bat (Megaderma sp.), an African false vampire bat (Cardioderma cor), and an Australian giant false vampire bat (Macroderma gigas). They are white or blue gray in color. False vampire bats also roost in caves and hollow trees. False vampire bats are carnivorous. In other words, they feed on other animals. The Asian and African false vampires weigh between 23 to 60 grams (about 1 to 2 ounces). Asian false vampire bats feed on insects, spiders, and small vertebrates such as rodents, birds, frogs, fish, and other bats. The African false vampire bat feeds on large, ground-dwelling beetles, centipedes, scorpions, and occasionally other bats. The Australian giant false vampire bat, also known as the ghost bat, is larger, weighing between 70 to 130 grams (2 ˝ to 4 ˝ ounces). It feeds on mice and other rodents, small marsupials, birds, reptiles, insects, and other bats.

What are flying foxes? Flying foxes are megabats. They have large eyes and fox-like faces. They eat fruit and nectar, and roost in the open, hanging from the branches of trees. Large groups of flying foxes are called “camps”. While they feed, they pollinate flowers and disperse seeds from fruit. Some microbats also pollinate flowers and disperse seeds. Fruit- and nectar-feeding bats help to regenerate rain forests.       To learn more about bats, visit Bat Conservation International at: www.batcon.org